Bad science

[Randomologist]

With every commercial, every "expert" opinion and every news story about some survey, it seems we're inundated with some very flawed logic; But what's your particular pet hate? Feel free to rant away, as I certainly will.

I'll start with mine; The notion that the human immune system- specifically, YOURS- is in imminent danger of complete disintegration *unless* you buy a six-pack of some pro-biotic drink. Now. This in theory "tops up" your immune system and keeps you safe...r.

Now, let's think; The immune system relies on encountering germs, and learning to deal with them by (effectively) creating an antidote, and trying to hold the bugs off while it does so. Okay, it can be overpowered by things like smallpox, plague or HIV, but generally it's served humanity well for several thousands of years in our evolution. Out of the millions of bacteria and viruses you're exposed to daily, you don't get ill with something new every day, do you?

I'll openly admit I'm no biologist, but surely the best way to counter a weakening immune system is not not wrap yourself in cotton wool every time you set foot in the big, wide, germ-ridden world. Not by living off what is essentially an expensive yoghurt.

Anything else that irks you, somewhat?

Note: I did search for this topic but couldn't find anything close enough. Apologies if I've missed one.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Probably something scientific but utterly and completely purile and insignificant.

Something like this probably [http://www.springerlink.com/content/a9j4vvpattrukeyn/] (when penguins pooh?calculations on avian defaecation).

More serious assholes are people like these [http://www.thincs.org/], who abuse science to make stupid claims which are actually dangerous.

 

[kaziard]

im pretty sure the probiotic bactieria are more for production of beneficial compounds instead of fighting infection, thats is if iv been paying proper attiontion in my bio lectures, that fat bint is boring as hell though . Im like you though bad science really irks me "stain seekers" and "it targets ONLY the gray hairs" are comments that literally make me want to put a spork through the tv.

 

[biggles1]

the skin care ads and hair stuff that "smoothes and re-vitalises". hair is dead. top skin layer is dead. it doesn't re-vitalise anything, it just smooths it down.

 

[CK76]

Its got electrolytes.

I just love marketing slogans like "drinkability" by some beer, utterly meaningless jibberish.

 

[Musicfreak]

People who don't get their kids vaccinated.

 

[Matt_LRR]

Its got electrolytes.

I just love marketing slogans like "drinkability" by some beer, utterly meaningless jibberish.

"drinkable" means flavourless, and thereby unlikely to offend the pallete with distaste.

It's like vanilla, or nickelback. It's everyone's go-to, because it's entirely inoffensive, and utterly deviod of anything innovative or adventurous.

-m

 

[cuddly_tomato]

I prefer reading the Daily Mail. Apparently because I use a biro pen I'm going to die due to kidney failure.

Don't forget to not use facebook [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1149207/How-using-Facebook-raise-risk-cancer.html] either, or else you'll get cancer.

The Daily Mail is an ambassador for the peer-review process!

 

[psivamp]

Space flight being modeled after flight in an atmosphere - wings shaped to use the Bernoulli principle for lift even though they operate in a vacuum, ships banking as if in atmosphere, engines constantly burning fuel to maintain a constant velocity... Seeing laser beams is another thing that bothers me.

 

[GruntOwner]

The Large Hadron Collider killing us all.

Take an air pistol. Place it facing another air pistol. Fire tham at eachother. That collision came about when 2 "particles" hit eachother with a combined energy of 2 joules. The ccollision within the LHC are no more powerful than that. How the hell is it gonna rip the world in half?

 

[Juzari]

I never understood how hair or skin can be 80 percent (or any percent) more flexible or something like that, how do you calculate that?

 

[fix-the-spade]

People within the cycling industry who claim Aluminium is somehow magically superior to Steel, Titanium or Carbon Fibre. Using various made up words and seudo scientific claims to back it up.

Even though it has a very short fatigue life, is not repairable and not especially lightweight. But it is cheap'n'easy to form/machine and lets them sell frames that are scrap metal within two years...

People who don't get their kids vaccinated.

This a thousand times, but especially the ones that complain or try to sue when their children get horrible diseases that leave them handicapped for life.

 

[Latinidiot]

Space flight being modeled after flight in an atmosphere - wings shaped to use the Bernoulli principle for lift even though they operate in a vacuum, ships banking as if in atmosphere, engines constantly burning fuel to maintain a constant velocity... Seeing laser beams is another thing that bothers me.

the wings are for the landing, so that no fuel has to be used to slow down when trying not to splatter on the runway.


what bothers me is that people see science as areligion of its own. Ok, so maybe a few defend it like a bunch of crusaders, but taking them serious on this is a bit...stupid.

 

[Good morning blues]

The anti-vaccination crowd is about as heinous as it gets, but for sheer retardation I'm going to have to go with organic foods. Paying twice as much for a product that less labour went into? Buying foods with a label that means nothing other than that it contains carbon at a mollecular level? Eating products that intentionally do away with all of the techniques that have made modern agriculture possible? Where do I sign up?

Organic foods aren't bad for anything other than your wallet, but there is no benefit to them, either. It is in no way "healthier" than the foods we consume otherwise.

 

[Randomologist]

I never understood how hair or skin can be 80 percent (or any percent) more flexible or something like that, how do you calculate that?

Here's another good one. New, L'Ornier's super-duper extra glossy gloop of chemical goo! Makes your hair 10,000% stronger.
I'm sorry, but why? It's hair, its a couple of strands of keratin on your head. It's already stronger for its weight than steel. You're not going to make a bloody suspension bridge out of hair, are you?

 

[Uilleand]

"Who is running the science and technology in a democracy, if the people don't know anything about it?" - Carl Sagan

The problem is that science is now more a marketing tool than the open, intellectual exercise that it should be. When real, analytical science is pushed aside for creationism in the classroom and horoscopes in the newspaper, how are we supposed to take any of it seriously?


We miss you, Mr. Sagan. So very much.

 

[Kagim]

All the bullshit around the sudden need to disinfect everything. Or that getting sick is somehow bad for you, especially while your young.

It irritates me to death. Hearing people talk like picking up a cold from someone is a bad thing.

You need to get sick to stop getting sick. If you live in a disinfected world your body becomes vulnerable to anything. Stressing your immune system is the only way for it to learn how to fight infection. If you deprive your body of this you lose the ability to defend yourself against unavoidable problems. You can;t stop every sneeze, you can;t block every germ. If you live your life taking meds for every sniffle and disinfecting everything around you your going to get really, damn, sick.

I'm not saying be a slob and crap on your floors, but i know people who disinfect there houses every day. Its actually more harmful to not get sick. Not to mention that not all bacteria is bad for you. If those disinfecting cloths realyl do kill 99.9% bacteria like they say then that clearly means it is killing good bacteria. You have to touch it with your hands, meaning 99.9% of all the bacteria on your hands used to block infection have just died!

Woo!

To be clear i am not against inoculations, basic hygiene, and covering your mouth when you sneeze. I'm not against meds either.

My problem is with how people seems to think bacteria and germs=microscopic demons out for your death and that you need medication for every damn thing that goes wrong with you. You do not need anti-biotic medicine for a runny nose. Just sick it out. Christ. You do not need to disinfect everything constantly. Let your kid get sick and play in the mud. When he is an adult and doesn't have a thousand health problems he/she will thank you.

 

[Tolerant Fanboy]

We miss you, Mr. Sagan. So very much.

Indeed. One of the xkcd strips that made me sadder than it made me happy was Sagan-Man [http://xkcd.com/663/], because we need him.

In any case, one of my pet peeves is when commercials talk about "feeding" or "revitalizing" hair when it was dead before it even came out of the scalp. Another one is the warping of "organic," at least to my biochemically inclined sensibilities.

 

[Kagim]

The anti-vaccination crowd is about as heinous as it gets, but for sheer retardation I'm going to have to go with organic foods. Paying twice as much for a product that less labour went into? Buying foods with a label that means nothing other than that it contains carbon at a mollecular level? Eating products that intentionally do away with all of the techniques that have made modern agriculture possible? Where do I sign up?

Organic foods aren't bad for anything other than your wallet, but there is no benefit to them, either. It is in no way "healthier" than the foods we consume otherwise.

What are you talking about? EVERYONE knows if you grow something organically it bestows super human abilities!

Just look at Organic Cyanide. As long as it grows organically eating it can cause you to leap buildings in a single bound! Shoot laser beams! Frost breath!

Hell Organic Arsenic causes wings to sprout from your butt once you swallow 500 grams.

 

[Paksenarrion]

Its got electrolytes.

I just love marketing slogans like "drinkability" by some beer, utterly meaningless jibberish.

It's what plants crave. Electrolytes.